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How To Start A Lucrative Garri Processing Business In Nigeria

How To Start Small Scale Garri Processing Business In Nigeria
Garri is one of the most commonly consumed staple food in Nigeria and many other West African countries.
There are different types of garri like the red garri, white garri, Ijebu garri and egg garri and they are all based on the areas they are being produced and some other ingredients used.
Generally the production of garri involves the same steps and is very lucrative. Whether you're venturing into it in a high scale or small scale, you'll still make it in the biz.

Garri Business In Nigeria

Garri processing business has evolved from the traditional frying of garri that our forefathers engaged in to a more advanced production of garri. In the previous century, most garris that were produced were consumed either by eating or smoking because the machines presently used for producing them in large scales were not available.
The efforts put into the production of garri then was much with a little unappreciative outcome. You can spend days and a lot of energy into processing the cassava and at the end of the day, just a little reward to show.
In the present generation garri production has evolved from the subsistence to a commercial state. There are now garri processing machines and garri frying machines that can quicken the whole process. People now venture into commercial garri production after imported garri from China was spotted in a Port Harcourt supermarket.

How To Start A Garri Factory

In venturing into garri processing business, one of the first things you should have is your business plan. We've outlined all the steps involved in writing a professional business plan and you can check them out. If you can't write after reading the article, you can hire us or any other professional writer you know to help you out with it.
Another important thing you need to do is to contact prospective buyers who might be interested in the product. It can be restaurants, hotels, schools or even other big businesses that use garri as one of their raw materials.

Some factors you need to put into place while running the garri production business include:

• Capital

As with every other business, you'll need to have enough capital before setting up your business. Your capital depends on the scale you intend running.
With ₦400,000 you can start a mini-production of garri. To venture into small scale production you might need up to ₦2 million while ₦5 million will set up an established garri production business. You can check out these 7 easiest ways to raise capital for your business as a startup, they'll help you in acquiring capital for any business venture in Nigeria.

• Space

An acre of land or two plots will be okay for setting up a standard garri factory. It is best to use an area that easily drains water because of the nature of the business. If you have enough capital, you can screed or cement the floor but in the other case, you can also go for a sandy soil as it has a low water retention ability.

• Building

The building for your garri factory will be divided into two, the wet and the dry section:

  - Wet section

This is where the machines that will be used for activities involving water will be kept. The machines for washing the cassava, grating the cassava into slurry, hydraulic press and the fermentation rack.

  - Dry section

The dry section will house machines like the fries, sieve and miller as well as accommodate stores. The store should have two doors, one inside and the other for loading of garri. In addition, one of the stores should be for packing of sacks and another for keeping packaged garri.

• Sourcing of cassava roots

The cassava roots can be sourced from cassava farmers nearby. It is advisable to own a cassava plantations it'll save you from a lot of money and stress that might arise from inconsistent suppliers. If you're a cassava farmer, also endeavor to read our article on top 7 cassava buying companies in Nigeria.

• Mobility

You should have a means of transporting the cassava from the farm to the factory. You'll also need the vehicle for moving packaged garri to your buyers in the market or other places.

Machines Used In A Garri Factory And Pricing

Some garri processing machines you will be needing include:
Filter: The filter is used after pressing for filtering the slurry into flour. There are two types of filters, the manual and the mechanical filters.
Fryer: The fryer is used as an alternative to the frying pan for frying the filtered cassava cakes. The fryer is being sold around ₦120,000.
Grinding machine: A grater or grinding machine is used for grinding the cassava into slurry. The grater is being sold around ₦280,000.
Hydraulic press: The hydraulic press is used for removing water from the slurry after grinding. The presser is being sold around ₦130,000.
Peeling machine: This is used for removing the inedible outer parts of the root which consists of the corky periderm and the cortex.

Procedure For Processing Garri

Having gotten the necessary machines, we'll guide you through the whole process of producing your first garri:

• Peeling of the cassava

This involves removing the inedible outer parts of the root which consists of the corky periderm and the cortex. It can be done manually or with a peeling machine. When done manually, you can hire labourers who you'll pay ₦1,000 each.
Alternatively you can use the peeling machine which will save you from the cost of  paying labourers. The peeling machine has its own downside that if the cassava root is not straight, it won't peel the skin completely. In this case you might also need to hire the services of labourers to manually finish the cassava roots.

• Grinding

The grinding can be done with a grater or grinding machine. The slurry will be packed inside big sacks with pores to enable them dry. They shouldn't be packed too much as it'll affect the drying. You can also use as many sacks as possible depending on the quantity of  cassava you're processing.
A grater can grind up to three tons a day.You can buy two graters depending on the capacity of cassava you'd be processing or hire welders to construct the grinding machine for you.

• Pressing

This involves removing the water from the slurry with the use of a hydraulic press. It is done by first putting the slurry in a bag, and then leaving it for a few hours in the hydraulic press for the water to be removed.

• Filtering

This means filtering the cassava slurry into flour. You can either use the manual filter or the mechanical filter depending on the scale.
You can use the same machine used for grinding the roots to filter the cakes though it's not advisable as it makes the end product too smooth. This is the reason most people prefer the manual filters that are constructed in form of baskets.

• Frying

Frying of the garri can either be done with a pot or a mechanically constructed fryer. The pot is good but might not contain enough cassava cakes so it's best to go for the mechanically constructed ones that have large flat surfaces and make use of firewood, gas or electricity.
The frying process involves the cassava flour being put inside a pot and intermittently (at irregular intervals) stirred until becomes dry. Depending on the type of garri you want to produce, you can add red oil at this stage for the yellow garri or leave it in the case of the white. Some people also prefer adding the oil to the slurry so that it can be uniform.

Packaging And Price Of Fried Garri

The fried garri can be packaged inside 50kg sack bags (rice bags). A bag should contain 18 or 22 paint rubbers and should be sealed to avoid it pouring during the course of transportation.

Price Of Garri

According to Mrs. Nkechi Ncharam, a trader at Eke Mgbidi market, a 4.5 litres bucket of white garri is being sold for ₦450 while a 4.5 litres bucket of red garri goes for ₦550.

How Profitable Is Garri Processing Business?

Garri processing business is very lucrative and can fetch you as much as ₦200,000 profit monthly. Let's run through what it'll take to process 5 tonnes of cassava with the cassava being peeled manually.
• 5 tonnes of cassava = ₦100,000
• Labourers for peeling the cassava = ₦5,000
• Frying of the cassava flour = ₦15,000
• Transportation = ₦30,000
• Cost of firewood = ₦10,000
• Miscellaneous = ₦10,000
Total = ₦170,000

A 50kg of garri costs around ₦10,000 and 5 tonnes of cassava will produce around 25 bags.
Calculating...
25 bags x ₦10,000 = ₦250,000
₦250,000 - ₦170,000 = ₦80,000
You'll be making a gain of ₦80,000 per 5 tonnes of cassava and if you're in a good location, can repeat the circle weekly.

How To Market Your Garri

Garri is a popularly consumed food in Nigeria and other African countries so you can easily find a market for your products. Your potential buyers include market traders, hotels, restaurants and boarding schools.
You can meet suppliers of garri by advertising on the online and offline platforms that will help give you wider reach and exposure.

In conclusion, garri processing business is a very lucrative type of business that you can venture into even without having millions. You can do only the frying and take the cassava to commercial grinders who would grate and press the cassava for you.
Thanks for reading along, don't forget to drop us a comment and share with your friends. Also check out these Top 10 awesome agribusiness ideas that can make you a millionaire in Nigeria.
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